ILX’s Top 77 Television and Streaming Video Series of 2020

top 20 is where shows become fair game for the gasface right

i can't peel that tangerine for you man, you gotta make your own call

FX’s six hour+ miniseries about the glory days of second-wave American feminism boasted a frankly outrageous cast (Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Uzo Aduba, Margo Martindale, Tracey Ullmann, Elizabeth Banks, Sarah Paulson, Niecy Nash, Jeanne Tripplehorn) and AAA movie production values.

https://i.imgur.com/3bEduUP.jpeg
#18 - Mrs. America (Hulu/BBC) - 66 points, 9 votes, 3 top 5 votes
Mrs America (2020) - Hulu/BBC

Trailer
Sample Clips
US Website
UK Website
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/14/arts/television/mrs-america-review.html

Glad to see that--I posted about it a few times during its run and thought I was the only one watching.

Lovecraft Country featured JJ Abrams and Jordan Peele as exec producers, a strong predominantly black cast, music by Raphael Saadiq and a daring reimagining of the Cthulhu mythos through a reclamatory lens. HBO successfully hyped it as a replacement for Watchmen and a cultural must-see event, but not everyone agreed.

https://i.imgur.com/dGSSEvL.jpg
#17 - Lovecraft Country (HBO) - 67 points, 11 votes, 2 #1 votes, 2 top 5 votes
LOVECRAFT COUNTRY

Trailer
Sample Clip
Website
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/arts/television/lovecraft-country-review.html
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/on-television/the-missing-melodrama-of-lovecraft-country

Okay, as before, I gotta get a run in and will drop off the last one for the day now along with an updated list. We can finish this off on Monday and Tuesday.

Criminally underwatched, almost entirely critically ignored and very nearly not released at all, The Dress Up Gang is the brainchild of California-based comedians Cory Loykasek and Donny Divanian. Alongside a stellar troupe that includes Frankie Quinones, Brent Winbach, Kirk Fox and (surreally) Andie MacDowell, The Dress Up Gang belongs to the same style of slow and kind comedy as the work of John Wilson and Joe Pera; anybody who loves those two should give this a few episodes. It’s destined to be a cult hit but it desperately deserves better.

https://i.imgur.com/fM3UwbA.jpg
#16 - The Dress Up Gang (TBS) - 71 points, 8 votes, 1 #1 vote, 4 top 5 votes
NB: Top TBS
I just wanted to say, I really cherish our friendship: A Thread for Dress Up Gang - TBS Television Show and Online Comedy Troupe

Trailer
Finding Frankie Part 1
Cute House
Molly Bro
Website
https://loudandclearreviews.com/the-dress-up-gang-interview/

Here's your updated list... top 15 on the way. Justify your picks!

#16 - The Dress Up Gang (TBS) - 71 points, 8 votes, 1 #1 vote, 4 top 5 votes
#17 - Lovecraft Country (HBO) - 67 points, 11 votes, 2 #1 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#18 - Mrs. America (Hulu) - 66 points, 9 votes, 3 top 5 votes
#19 - Big Mouth (Netflix) - 64 points, 7 votes, 1 #1 vote, 4 top 5 votes
#20 - Action Button (YouTube) - 61 points, 6 votes, 3 #1 votes, 3 top 5 votes
#21 - The Expanse (Amazon) - 60 points, 5 votes, 4 top 5 votes
#22 - PEN15 (Hulu) - 59 points, 8 votes, 3 top 5 votes
#23 - Devs (Hulu) - 56 points, 9 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#24 - The Crown (Netflix) - 54 points, 8 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#25 - Dead to Me (Netflix) - 53 points, 6 votes, 3 top 5 votes
#26 - Jeopardy (Syndication) - 51 points, 8 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#27 - The Great British Bake Off / The Great British Baking Show (Netflix, Channel 4) - 47 points, 9 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#28 - Brockmire (IFC) - 47 points, 6 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#29 - Search Party (HBO) - 43 points, 6 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#30 (Tie) - Dark (Netflix) - 41 points, 7 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#30 (Tie) - Killing Eve (BBC America / BBC) - 41 points, 7 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#32 - Work in Progress (Showtime) - 41 points, 5 votes, 1 #1 vote, 2 top 5 votes
#33 - The Great (Hulu) - 38 points, 5 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#34 - Giri/Haji (BBC, Netflix) - 37 points, 7 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#35 - I Am Not Okay with This (Netflix) - 37 points, 6 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#36 - Insecure (HBO) - 36 points, 5 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#37 - Worzel Gummidge (BBC) - 35 points, 4 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#38 (Tie) - The History of the Seattle Mariners (YouTube) - 33 points, 4 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#38 (Tie) - The Kingdom (Netflix) - 33 points, 4 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#38 (Tie) - The New Pope (HBO) - 33 points, 4 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#41 - Quiz (ITV, AMC) - 32 points, 5 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#42 - Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing (BBC) - 30 points, 3 votes, 2 top 5 vote
#43 - Rick and Morty (Adult Swim) - 29 points, 8 votes
#44 - Last Week Tonight (HBO) - 29 points, 6 votes
#45 (Tie) - Aggretsuko (Netflix) - 28 points, 4 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#45 (Tie) - Unorthodox (Netflix) - 28 points, 4 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#47 - High Maintenance (HBO) - 28 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#48 - RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1) - 27 points, 5 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#49 - Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun (Netflix) - 26 points, 5 votes
#50 - Never Have I Ever (Netflix) - 26 points, 4 votes, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#51 - Tiger King (Netflix) - 25 points, 6 votes
#52 (Tie) - Fargo (FX) - 25 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vot
#52 (Tie) - Ghosts (BBC1, HBO) - 25 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#54 - Strictly Come Dancing (BBC) - 25 points, 3 votes, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#55 (Tie) - Beef House (Adult Swim) - 23 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#55 (Tie) - Desus and Mero (Showtime) - 23 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#57 - A House Through Time (BBC2) - 23 points, 3 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#58 - The Repair Shop (BBC, Netflix) - 20 points, 2 votes, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#59 - GeoWizard Missions (YouTube) - 20 points, 2 votes, 2 top 5 votes
#60 (Tie) - Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Netflix) - 20 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#60 (Tie) - Murder on Middle Beach (HBO) - 20 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#62 (Tie) - High Fidelity (Hulu) - 19 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#62 (Tie) - Ozark (Netflix) - 19 points, 4 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#64 - Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet (Apple +) - 18 points, 5 votes
#65 (Tie) - AEW Dynamite (TBS) - 18 points, 3 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#65 (Tie) - The Plot Against America (HBO) - 18 points, 3 votes
#67 - The Good Lord Bird (HBO) - 18 points, 2 votes, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#68 - Star Trek: Picard (CBS All Access) - 18 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#69 - Dave (FX) - 16 points, 3 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#70 - 20020 (SB Nation) - 16 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#71 - Bob’s Burgers (FX) - 15 points, 3 votes
#72 (Tie) - Oxventure Dungeons and Dragons! (YouTube) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#72 (Tie) - Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult (Starz) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#72 (Tie) - Taskmaster (Channel 4) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#72 (Tie) - Teenage Bounty Hunters (Netflix) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#72 (Tie) - Videogame Dunkey (YouTube) - 15 points, 2 votes, 1 top 5 vote
#77 (Tie) - Bluey (Disney +) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#77 (Tie) - Followers (Netflix) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#77 (Tie) - She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (Netflix) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#77 (Tie) - The Umbrella Academy (Netflix) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote
#77 (Tie) - We Are Who We Are (HBO) - 15 points, 1 vote, 1 #1 vote, 1 top 5 vote

I should have voted

Glad to see that--I posted about it a few times during its run and thought I was the only one watching.

― clemenza, Friday, February 12, 2021 2:27 PM (six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

i watched and very much enjoyed! it was insightful and highly watchable historical re-enactment along the lines of 'the people vs. oj simpson' (i think they shared a creative team, and they definitely shared a tendency for eye-roll-inducing cameos).

I watched the first episode of Dead To Me and could not deal with its kind of horrible-people comedy.

Dark has a couple episodes that I found really cool, but I was generally bored by its glacial pace.

I wish I liked the Expanse as much as other people here, but something about it -- the pace? -- keeps me at a distance. I love the books, though.

GBBO was possibly my gateway into baking, but nowadays it's largely on a different track to my baking projects -- though I did try a couple GBBO recipes from the latest season!

Giri/Haji kept surprising me, especially with its humor.

Just catching up!

There needs to be a name for the genre of TV which involves lots of apologising and long shots of tear-glazed eyes/people crying. I recently watched American Horror Story S1 (I don't like to rush these things) and it was all people saying sorry and crying! I counted the 'sorrys' in an episode of Cobra Kai and stopped at 12. Hill House was like this too.

Anyway, long way round of saying Dark was totally this genre of telly. It was fine for about a season and a half and just disappeared up its own arse.

Gone Fishing is so beautiful. I watched the first couple of episode expecting it to be self-indulgent but not a bit of it.

Whoa, Lovecraft placed low!! I was one of the #1 voters. This show did some really special, spectacular shit. Key for me was the balance between big cosmic horror and the actually way more horrific and gripping horrors of Black life in mid-20th Century America (or, well, just America). Much more layered and complex than I expected (have not read or even perused the plot of the novel so I have no idea how straight a translation it is), but also a lot of fun between the instances of trauma. If they manage to keep all the plates spinning, this could wind up being one of the best HBO series ever.

lovecraft made the bottom of my ballot. i appreciated the ambition and flat-out loved some of the episodes (especially the ones that focused on ji-ah, hippolyta, and those scary ballerina twins, my god), but i didn't really feel like they were able to bring it all together as more than some satisfying pieces.

still, the great was really great and it was an easy vote.

I think I only started watching Big Mouth after filling out my ballot this year, otherwise I would've tossed it another vote.

The new season of Big Mouth dropped in December, making me wonder how many voters were specifically excited about the show’s work for 2020 and how many just generally liked the franchise.

All the episodes came out on the same day in December, and we voted in January; I'd definitely watched all ten within a fortnight, if not a week.

(franchise?!)

I’d like it if a fan could let us know if the quality has dropped off at all?

No, imo. This season did shift its focus slightly onto more grounded character micro-arcs: whereas earlier seasons would largely build eps on "aspect of puberty happens to character x for the first time," or "delve into the demented, absurd real life of the B-characters like Coach Steve," this one went a little more for using personal growth as the plot drivers, while still wringing as much (literally) juvenile gross-out humour as possible along the way.

The fragility of teenage friendship has been done before in the show, but opening with an actual mini-series set at camp, where Andrew makes a better friend than Nick, and a regular camper arrives having transitioned since the other kids saw her, gave opportunities to dig deeper. Lola and Jay getting together last season was played on top as a "put two OTT disruptive shrieking characters into a couple" move. This season made the loneliness / abandonment of both children a more explicit and seriously-handled connection between them, without being used as a punchline lever.

But that's a subtle change, and doesn't affect the quality in either direction.

this is all great to hear because i enjoyed s1 and 2 much more than 3, needed some encouragement to watch s4. but it's a quick binge, i'll throw it on soon.

really wish I'd taken the time to vote now, I would have given Dress Up Gang a boost. Delighted to see 8 votes though!

Bindebinder sounds like a hausfrau hotbed.

Oops, wrong thread.

dress up gang was my #1. i love every second of it.

We just watched the first episode. Thank you guys so much for introducing me to it. It's amazing.

sic's summary re this season of Big Mouth is perfect. All that.

Ya, he summed up my thoughts much better than I am capable of.

Also can someone explain to me the humour in The Dress Up Gang? Because I totally did not get it.

my main problem with big mouth is that it's fuckin ugly

dress up gang mashes up the ironic and unexpected with wholesome and heartfelt feels; it is subversive in that it evokes leave it to beaver and a casual familiarity with nihilism and regular drug use. the presumed code of conduct throughout is humane but perverse and regularly unexpected. i think its genius but my partner doesn't get it at all! i'm not sure i can convince you if you're not seeing it.

thanks. i didn't hate it or anything – felt a vague understanding of what they were doing, but for me it just wasn't landing.

just catching up. wow, I really did not watch as much tv last year as it felt like! I started catching up on films that I'd missed that are now on tv, and rewatching old stuff.

Wow, I didn't even realize this much of the rollout had already happened! Glad that 'I Am Not Okay With This' did as well as it did. I loved it and I'm still bitter about no second season.

Thought season one of Search Party was pretty good, then season two started turning into something I wasn't into and we bailed halfway through. Then we started using the HBO Whateverit'scallednow app and decided to try again, pushed through the rest of season two...and then season three was great! I was psyched that the show had finally found its footing and looked forward to what was next!

Season four will, um, very pointedly not be making it onto my 2021 ballot.

we were losing it when the gang and Susan Sarandon were trying to chase each others' cars... then they got into a roundabout and I'm not sure anything can ever top it. Show keeps getting more bizarre, love it.

I'm still bitter about no second season.

nooooooooooooooooo.......

I'm still bitter about no second season.

nooooooooooooooooo.......

― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Saturday, February 13, 2021 6:27 PM

It got renewed for a second, then COVID happened, and Netflix pulled the plug on several shows they'd renewed, including I Am Not Okay With This. >:(

Yeah, Netflix was really quick to pull the plug on shows and blame COVID. I’m still pissed we won’t get one more season of GLOW, that was really turning into an exceptional show and Betty Gilpin was particularly killing it.

Good Aunty Donna example that starts bad, gets good, gets bad again, gets good again, etc

The opening of the season, with “everything’s a drum” was fantastic.

Yep

But they dont know when to stop imo

they don't know when to get into the kiln

*waves hand limply in front of face, looks around confusedly*

Everybody do the Chop Chop

Hulu’s British/Irish collaborative dramatic adaptation of the “it’s complicated” relationship novel Normal People catapulted its leads to stardom and struck an international nerve during lockdown. I’ve yet to see an episode; would one of our eight voters care to school me on what makes watching two pretty gen-z'ers fucking so compelling? I may have answered my own question.

https://i.imgur.com/gLeun2y.jpg
#15 - Normal People (Hulu/BBC) - 75 points, 8 votes, 6 top 5 votes
NB: Top Hulu
STUFF ON HULU

Trailer
’Creating Intimacy’
US Website
UK Website
https://www.vulture.com/2020/04/normal-people-hulu-review.html
https://www.npr.org/2020/04/29/847617296/normal-people-is-a-love-story-to-cherish

So overrated. I think maybe I'm slightly too old for it.

it had some interesting bits, but I kind of hated it

We bailed on Normal People after the first episode (if I'd watched a second, it could have been grounds for divorce - he really, really loathed it). But maybe it, er, took time to develop.

Nah it was all pretty draggy, albeit oddly watchable. I never grew to like the leads, particularly.

i was really impressed by the dude lead in normal people, he seemed like a real person in a way that most tv/movie performances don't

the woman lead was "good" too but in a more standard actory way